PROPERTY
FIRM Robinsons Land Corp. opens today a shopping mall at the site of the former
Magnolia Ice Cream House in New Manila, Quezon City.

AN ARTIST’S
rendering shows the Robinsons Magnolia shopping mall fronting a planned mixed
use development set to rise at the old site of an ice cream factory.

Magnolia’s
old facility was built in 1970 and served as a production line and retail outlet
until the factory’s transfer to a five-hectare plant in General Trias, Cavite.

Robinsons
Land then acquired the prime property in 2008 for around P1.6 billion from San
Miguel Properties, Inc.

“We promise
to bring a brand new shopping experience in Robinsons Magnolia which will house
several top brands and retailers and restaurant and food formats,” Arlene G.
Magtibay, Robinsons Land commercial centers division general manager, said in a
statement released over the weekend.

This will be
the company’s third mall in Quezon City after its flagship Robinsons Galleria
on the corner of EDSA and Ortigas Ave. and Robinsons Nova Market (formerly
Robinsons Place Novaliches).

With 108,000
square meters (sq. m.) of gross floor area and a gross leasable area of 42,000
sq. m., Robinsons Magnolia will house a number of retail tenants, with anchors
Robinsons Department Store, Robinsons Supermarket, True Value, and Robinsons
Appliances.

Meanwhile,
other amenities include four cinemas, a food court, and over 1,000 parking
spaces, Robinsons Land said.

Robinsons
Magnolia will form part of the mixed-use Magnolia Town Square, which will
include four residential towers to be dubbed The Magnolia Residences.

One-bedroom
units measuring 36 sq. m. to 47 sq. m., as well as two-bedroom executive units
measuring 78 sq. m. to 79 sq. m. will soon be up for sale at The Magnolia
Residences, Robinsons Land said.

It has built
29 malls, 33 residential projects, eight office buildings, and five hotels as
of end-2011.

In addition
to Robinsons Magnolia, more malls are opening this year in Malabon City,
Butuan, Roxas City, Bulacan, and Isabela, the company earlier said.

For the 2012
fiscal year, the company has allotted P13 billion for capital expenditures --
nearly equal to P13.9 billion in the year previous -- which will be sourced
through cash operations and debt.

More than
60% of the funding will go to malls, office buildings, and hotels, while the
remainder will be earmarked for residential condominiums and housing units.

For the
semester ending March, Robinsons Land hiked its net income by 9.80% to P2.24
billion from year-ago levels as revenues went up by 13.58% to P7.11 billion.

Robinsons
Land’s commercial centers division, which handles malls and other leasing
operations, grew its revenues by 14.85% to P3.48 billion during that period and
accounted for roughly half of total revenues. -- FJGDLF